“No way… that’s it?”

“Talk about luck! I just wonder how the sect master plans to subdue a monster like that.”

“Wasn’t he supposed to be dying? From the looks of it, he could live another few thousand years without a problem!”

Having narrowly survived, even the strict rules of the Mingxin Sword Sect couldn’t silence everyone’s need to vent. Wenhai had no choice but to let the chatter go.

His gaze settled on Li Xun. This junior brother, who had entered the sect more than a century after him, had just carried them through the ordeal in his own way.

And now, Li Xun’s expression was calm, without the slightest hint of pride over what had happened.

It wasn’t false modesty. It was the quiet confidence and composure of someone who had weathered many truly great trials.

Looking at Li Xun like this, Wenhai couldn’t even say what he was feeling inside.

Only then did he realize he still hadn’t asked why Li Xun happened to be at Mocang Ridge at such a convenient time.

Li Xun already had his answer prepared.

“I was here fighting Hundred-Ghosts, but he slipped away. Lucky for us he did. I still had plenty of restrictions I hadn’t used, or else today would have been much harder to get through.”

Everyone in the Tongxuan Realm knew about the bad blood between Spirit Bamboo and Hundred Ghosts, so when Wenhai heard it, he didn’t press any further. Li Xun chuckled to himself, but his smile quickly faded.

Even across several mountain ranges, the roar of the Ox Warrior carried clearly to their ears. This time though, there was something different in that roar.

Li Xun had heard this kind of sound countless times from cultivators and demons alike. It was the raw mix of terror, rage, and despair.

He shot to his feet and, without a word, flew straight toward the source of the roar.

From Wenhai on down, everyone was stunned. They only snapped back to their senses after Li Xun’s figure vanished from sight. “Junior Brother Xun, are you out of your mind?” One of them shouted.

But Li Xun was perfectly clear-headed. The reason he rushed forward in such a hurry was because the matter of the Ox Warrior was tied to the inner workings of the Rogue cultivators’ Alliance.

Even though he had been close with Gu Yin and Lin Wuyou for the past sixty years, he still knew very little about the alliance’s internal structure.

Now that such an unexpected opportunity had presented itself, how could he possibly let it slip by?

On top of that, the few words the Ox Warrior kept howling had stirred up his curiosity.

Who was that ‘slut’ supposed to be? And what did he know?

Carrying those questions, he pushed himself to fly faster. Even so, he didn’t forget to watch his own safety. When only a single peak stood between him and the source of the voice, he used the same trick as before, gliding down along the mountainside and hiding himself in the shadows of the rocks.

Just as he crossed the ridge, he caught broken, staticky noises. It sounded like someone groaning, muttering under their breath..

From above, he could see no trace of a battle in the valley below.

That only made him more cautious. Bit by bit, he edged down the slope until, among the jumbled rocks at the valley floor, he spotted a figure lying there.

His heart jolted. Forgetting all about staying hidden, he revealed himself and ran over in a few quick strides.

It was the Ox Warrior. Barely half a half hour ago, he had been fierce and unstoppable. Now his massive body had collapsed.

The most terrifying part was his left side. The muscle had shriveled into something like dried meat, skin creased with wrinkles and veins bulging grotesquely. A stark contrast to the still-powerful right side of his body.

One glance was enough for Li Xun to know. This was the sign that half of the Bull Warrior’s blood and qi had been drained away.

In that condition, no matter how strong he had once been, the weight of new wounds piled on old ones was enough to crush even his mad willpower.

Li Xun swept his gaze around but found nothing out of place. That only made him draw in a sharp breath through clenched teeth.

Whoever it was that struck this blow had to be a true powerhouse. To land such a thunderous strike and then retreat a thousand li without leaving a trace... The sheer precision and ruthlessness of it was staggering.

The Ox Warrior’s thick lips still moved. His voice was surprisingly clear, though he kept repeating the same words over and over: “Slut, I know… what can you do to me?”

Li Xun, intent on gathering information, found it unbearable. “Know my ass. Didn’t she already do this to you?” he muttered irritably.

And to his surprise, the voice actually faltered. When he glanced down, he saw a strange light in the Ox Warrior’s bell-sized eyes. The madness in them seemed to have ebbed. The pupils even shifted slightly, struggling to fix on Li Xun’s face.

A chill ran instinctively down Li Xun’s spine, but there was no reason to fear someone already half-dead. He held his ground and stared back.

Their eyes met, and the Ox Warrior’s ruined body suddenly shuddered with violent force.

Li Xun’s heart gave a jolt. Just as he was about to speak, he heard the man’s dry, rasping voice wheeze like a broken bellows.

“Dead… he’s dead! How can it be? he was clearly dead!”

Li Xun’s spirit shook. He dropped to his knees beside him, pressing his ear close. “Say it. Take your time. Who’s dead?”

“You… you were clearly dead… how can you be here?”

Damn it! Li Xun slapped the ground in frustration. He finally realized the lunatic was beyond reason and started to get up to leave.

But just as he began to rise, his eyelid twitched. A sudden thought struck him. He raised a hand to his own face… No way.

He shook his head firmly, forcing the wild notion out of his mind.

Impossible.

Ten years ago, on the very day the Hundred Beasts Sect was annihilated, its sect master, the Lion-Camel King, had fought his way out of the encirclement, even at the cost of all his guardian spirit beasts. It was then that a certain person, using flute music, ignited his seven emotions and desires, driving him into madness before killing him from afar.

Tens of thousands had witnessed that scene. There was no mistake.

But as the saying goes, a man’s words at the brink of death carry weight. Even if the Ox Warrior could hardly be called a man, his dying words had to mean something.

Li Xun lowered his head again, hoping to coax a bit more information from him.

With a muffled pop

, a spray of red and white burst before Li Xun’s eyes. The sudden change made him lurch back in shock, his body instinctively throwing itself away from the scene.

Good thing he dodged quickly. Having brain matter splatter across his face, would that have been pleasant?

The Ox Warrior’s massive head had blown apart. This time, he was dead beyond any doubt.

With a ringing metallic note, Li Xun drew his sword and slashed sideways on pure instinct. The sword-qi screamed through the air, but struck nothing.

A chill settled deeper and deeper into his heart, warning signs flaring one after another. He unleashed seven more cuts in rapid succession, slashing and thrusting, the sword-qi sharp as frost, yet he never even touched the hem of his opponent’s clothes.

Just as he was about to call out Nether One for protection, a sudden laugh rang in his ears.

Li Xun’s heart gave a violent jolt. The words slipped out of him in reflex: “Senior Sister Wuyou?”

A a chill suddenly struck his heart. He whipped around, and there it was. That pitch-black figure, like a nightmare made real, standing in the sunlight.

A pair of beast-like, blood-red eyes stared straight at him.

In the past sixty years, Li Xun had seen this creature countless times, yet even now he could never look at it calmly. And how could he? The monster before him was none other than Net Throat Demon.

That would explain the wounds on the Ox Warrior.

Back when Net Throat Demon first appeared in the world, it had devoured half the lifeblood of the Nine Nether Patriarch, founder of the Shadow-Devouring Soul Sect, dragging him to his death in the Forty-Nine Heavenly Tribulation. That was how its name first spread far and wide.

Over the tens of thousands of years since, who knows how many great cultivators have perished at its hands. With one more like the Ox Warrior added to the list, it hardly mattered.

If Net Throat Demon was here, then Lin Wuyou couldn’t be far. So why hadn’t she shown herself?

The thought had barely formed when a crimson shadow appeared, crawling up Net Throat Demon’s arm as if climbing a tree, coiling around and settling on its shoulder.

At that moment, Net Throat Demon looked like a charred, motionless tree. But to Li Xun’s eyes, there seemed to be a trace of fear flickering in its gaze.

Li Xun focused his gaze and found himself staring into a pair of gleaming, glass-like cat eyes.

When he finally saw what it was, a cry of shock rose to his throat and nearly burst out.

Fortunately, Lin Wuyou’s playful laugh came just in time to smother the shout before it escaped.

What puzzled Li Xun was that the voice was coming from the creature perched on Net Throat Demon’s shoulder. The one calmly washing its face with its front paws like a cat.

Of course, it only looked like a cat at first glance. Its body was more like a thick, bloated snake. The front paws still resembled a feline’s, but the hind legs had withered into two short barbs. With its tail flicking lazily behind it, the whole thing gave off a bizarre, unsettling impression.

Li Xun knew this kind of creature all too well. It was unmistakably a Bloodkiss. And thanks to what Shui Die Lan had told him, he realized at once that this very Bloodkiss was the “Kitty” Shui Die Lan had snatched from him long ago and gifted to Lin Wuyou for her birthday.

But after more than sixty years apart, the little thing no longer seemed to recognize him. Its gaze on him was distant, almost indifferent.

A pang of disappointment stirred in Li Xun’s chest. Then Lin Wuyou’s voice drifted out from the Bloodkiss: “Ha, junior brother, it’s been a long time! Well? What do you think of my ‘kitten.’ Isn’t it lovely, huh?”